But the "Europeanization" of Serbian politics is far from complete. First, Serbia's recent rapprochement with Europe has come without long overdue reforms of the country's legal institutions and security services. Additionally, the EU, confronted with a blocked ratification of the Lisbon treaty, is itself is oftwo minds about pursuing enlargement. The Serbian government, hesitant to challenge the nationalist legacies of the Miloševic era too openly, needs at least the prospect of EU ascension to motivate it to reform. The Serbians will be carefully watching the outcome of Croatia's current efforts to join the EU.
And while Serbia has made an important step in Europe's direction with the arrest of Karadžic, it remains intransigent on the issue of Europe's role in Kosovo's independence. "We shall not move an inch on the territorial issue," Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said in Belgrade after Karadžic's arrest. Just days before Karadžic's arrest, he was in Moscow to reiterate Serbia's unwillingness to budge on the issue. Belgrade is using the arrest of Karadžic quite skillfully by telling the Europeans that if they want the Serbians to obey international law by cooperating with the ICTY, then the Europeans need to do so as well in regard Kosovo.
Though the current Serbian government is the most pro-European that the EU can expect for the near future, it is quite fragile. So while Karadžic's arrest was a testament to EU power, the Europeans must be careful not to overplay their hand in a country that continues to be so volatile.
Jacques Rupnik is a professor of politics at Sciences Po, Paris.